1. He tells about an experience he had as a lowly freshman in college.

a. He was a relatively new convert to Christianity at the time.

b. He was sitting innocently enough in his freshman college English class, when right in the middle of class, the professor, who was hostile to Christianity called R. C. Sproul onto the carpet.

2. The professor asked, “Mr. Sproul, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God?”

a. Sproul says that he was shaken by the question.

b. He said, “In that moment, I felt the weight of her question, and I knew that every eye in the room was on me. My mind raced for a way to escape my dilemma. I knew if I said yes, people would be angry. At the same time, if I said no, I would be betraying Christ.”

c. R. C. Sproul muttered almost inaudibly, “Yes, I do.”

3. The teacher responded with unmitigated fury. In front of the class, with a voice as loud as a rocket launcher, she yelled at Sproul, “That is the most narrow-minded, bigoted, and arrogant statement I have ever heard in my life! You must be a supreme egotist to believe that your way of religion is the only way.”

5. Since then, Sproul has learned how to be an effective spokesman for the Christian faith, and if he were back in that classroom now, he would know how to respond to such an attack.

D. But that professor’s charge is one that we, Christians, must learn how to respond to.

1. The question will come in various forms: “Well, all religions are the same, so why insist that yours is the only right one?” or “Why would you be so narrow-minded as to believe Jesus is the only way to God? Isn’t that the height of bigotry?”

2. Whatever the form, this question is always embedded in the idea of tolerance.

3. If the moral and cultural climate of our age has any theme, it is that of tolerance.